Entry #3: It's, Like, So Confusing!

So earlier today, I found myself listening to an... interesting podcast about social media and how two girls calculate things like "likes" and "comments" over their Instagram accounts. I'll say it now that what I listened to wasn't particularly interesting to me, but before I do so, if you'd like to hear the podcast for yourself, click here for the prologue, and here for the first act/chapter. Perhaps you should give it a listen before reading on?

Alright... it's review time!

I'm honestly not sure how to feel about the podcast, or at least what I listened to... Perhaps it's because I don't use Instagram like a lot of people do nowadays, but hearing about how two girls calculate their likes, comments, and similar statistics on the images and selfies they post on their Instagram accounts doesn't necessarily interest me. In my eyes, social media seems like a very odd thing to study, especially when a lot of people have some form of account on a site and don't get say, oh, six likes a minute on an image they immediately posted. If you were trying to make a Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram or something else for a research project or for the sake of statistics regarding likes and comments, chances are you wouldn't get quick results. These girls interviewed on the podcast are implied to have been doing this for a long time, and they didn't just start posting online and getting followers. You have to build a reputation in order to earn those likes, and get a following. For someone like me, i'd be lucky if any of my own "selfies" got to around 10 or 15 likes, and that's on Twitter!

But I digress. I think the one point that just doesn't set with me is trying to dive into the "decoding Instagram comments" angle this podcast goes into, especially the end of the introduction segment by Ira Glass, the interviewer:

Ira Glass: "And that's what these Instagram comments are all about, if you know how to read them."

What does he mean by "know how to read them"? I can understand the snide or sarcastic remarks being confusing or the occasional case where someone comments such as when Ella came across a comment on another image where someone said they hated the poster because of their image/selfie, but there's really not much more to "read" into regarding people's comments on things like this on the internet, at least in my own opinion. You don't have to think that deep or that hard into an offhand comment on a photograph, and if someone really liked or disliked what you post about, i'm sure that respective person would let you know.

However, despite my slight frustration with the idea of measuring likes and comments on people's own personal posts, I do resonate with the idea of comments regarding friends and such. I don't much care what people do behind my back on the internet, because... it's the internet. It's impossible to know who or what is watching you 24/7, or identify if one person is worse than another, so why let it get to you? But when it comes to friends or people you know (for absolutely sure, I should stress) on the internet, it does feel a bit heartbreaking when they don't interact with you when you've posted with or about them. Now does that mean they hate your guts or something when they don't comment on a picture you posted with them in it? In my eyes, not really. Maybe the friend is busy, or, because they were physically there with you, perhaps they don't feel the need to share it, or they just haven't done so yet. It's nothing you need to hold against them, so I can definitely feel that angle being spoken about in the podcast.

I suppose with what the podcast offers, despite myself not personally enjoying the content, it is still relevant. There are still lots of people in the world who use Instagram, even if I myself don't use it, and plenty of people learning about and studying social media. And another point I agree with, are these lines from Julia and Ella from Act 1 of the podcast:

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Julia: Um, actually, if I get a comment from someone I care about, I think it makes me feel good, like it lifts me up.

~

Ella: Like, it does make you feel good. You're like, oh, I'm getting all these comments. Like, people like my photo. They think I'm pretty. Like, they're saying that you're pretty. And if someone comes up to you and says you're pretty, like, you're obviously going to be like, thank you, if it makes you feel good. Because it just does. Like, that's like human nature. Like, you're going to feel good.

---

This is important because I feel this plays a lot into our current world. Not even about likes or comments, but with the technology provided to us, we can now receive a lot more attention than we used to, and likes/comments help influence that because they let us know we're being seen or recognized, and they help us feel sure about our own images, or who we want to be. Do I think we should be analyzing "likes" or "comments" so often or trying to uncover what they mean like they have some sort of deeper meaning? No, because let's be honest, they really don't. It's just a functioning button on a post on a social media site. But I do feel like it's important to recognize and understand what these likes or comments mean to a wider variety of people. As I stated before, any regular joe can make a blog, start posting and get an obscene amount of likes and comments and what not. But it takes more than just someone posting selfies and images all day and getting so many "likes" and "comments" to really understand what they mean to someone, especially to people who supposedly receive up to 130 ~ 150 likes and 30 ~ 50 comments on their regular posts a day.

I'll say it once more: I'm not sure how to feel about this podcast. It doesn't make me upset or angry, but something about it doesn't set right with me either. It's like asking someone how useful of a resource money is when they receive it daily for no cost to them: nobody makes that much a day, and it's mostly defined by whoever you ask that gets it. Some people may like getting that many likes, but to others, it couldn't be anything to them and just be a number going up. But in all, I think it's ultimately up to you to decide. Here's the podcast again, and an additional transcript in case you want to give it another listen, or read it over. But as for me, I think i'm gonna disconnect from the internet, and go outside for a while. See you all later for my next, big post!